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Police suspect Indian Mujahideen for Patna Blasts

Patna: The role of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen is being investigated in the serial blasts in Patna before Narendra Modi’s rally yesterday, in which six people were killed and 83 injured.

The blasts took place just as Mr Modi arrived at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan to address thousands of supporters and launch his party’s campaign for the national election, due by May.

Here are the 10 latest developments in the story:

The Bihar and Jharkhand police believe the mastermind is a man named Tahseen Akhtar, an alleged Indian Mujahideen operative in Bihar.

The police claim major leads from two suspects who were arrested yesterday from the Patna railway station, where the first of the seven blasts took place. One of them, identified as Imtiaz Ansari, belongs to the village where Tehseen Akhtar was allegedly trying to recruit men.

Based on Ansari’s information, the police carried out raids at Patna and Ranchi last evening. A police team that conducted searches at his village claim they have found incriminating evidence. Three other young men from the village were detained after the raids.

“We found explosive devices, extremist literature, pen drives and cash in Ansari’s room. There was evidence of his involvement in such activities,” senior Jharkhand police officer SN Pradhan told NDTV.

Investigators say the bombs also pointed at the role of the Indian Mujahideen. They were low intensity devices detonated using timers and appear similar to those used in a terror attack in the pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya in Bihar in July.

The motive of the blasts, say the police, was allegedly to create panic and possibly trigger a stampede at Mr Modi’s rally. A National Investigating Agency team is also in Bihar.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who ended his party’s alliance with the BJP in August over its decision to give Mr Modi the starring role in its campaign for the national election, has said there should be no politics over the blasts.

At a press conference, the Chief Minister said that security arrangements were not inadequate.

The BJP, which had hoped for a massive show of strength by holding Mr Modi’s first rally in Bihar, has blamed the Bihar government for the security lapses. Former party president Nitin Gadkari said, “One of the reasons for the blasts could be to sabotage Modi’s rally. The government may indirectly be a part it.”

Sources in the BJP’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS feel the blasts were a conspiracy to damage the BJP’s poll prospects in the forthcoming elections.